leaking seals on 4 WD

[BC Dave]

I have some weeping seals on on both sides of the front knuckle area on a 180D; are these easy to get at to replace? clean?

the seller said they just needed to be cleaned out ...

... is this a common problem? I noticed several seals in the parts diagram; which ones need to be cleaned / replaced?

Cheers a BC D

 

[winston1]

Never much heard of cleaning a seal. If you go that far I would recommend replacement. Don't know if yours is like the 1500 but #26 in the drawing is the knuckle seal. Yours would be similiar. Many people have had success with adding Lucas power steering stop leak. Just a thought. The seals are not difficult to change although I have never touched a ym180d. Yanmar Tractor Parts: 4WD_EXTERNAL_R

 

[kenmac]

If you have to take them out to clean them. I would install new ones. I doubt cleaning seals will stop leaking. New ones will if, bearings,etc are in good shape

 

[BC Dave]

yes; it would be wise to replace a waring part once you've gone to the trouble of taking it all appart ...

 

[sacsr]

I had one leaking several months ago...from the advice here I tried the power steering stop seal leaking bottle and it has not leaked since.

Worth a shot.

 

[jerrybob]

Same thing here.....had some leakage on my 186D......added Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak......problem solved. I'd try it before tearing it apart. :thumbsup:

 

[BC Dave]

Same thing here.....had some leakage on my 186D......added Lucas Power Steering Stop Leak......problem solved. I'd try it before tearing it apart. :thumbsup:

stop leak; Its an idea; but I also wonder if the stop leak would gum up the oil or other parts ...

 

[use2import]

alot of the tractors we brought in that were 4wd ie, the 1500D's had the front axles grease packed. I cleaned them and replaced any needed parts (mostly seals etc..), but in retrospect, having the front end packed with a high quality synthetic or moly grease could lubricate just as well.

 

[Johndeere3720]

If your talking about what I'm thinking it is quite a thing to fix. Lucky I was able to locate a seal at John Deere but i know that all of the parts are not easily obtained for the front axle. Mine leaked a lot on our garage floor (concrete) and since I did not want to stain the floor I just decided to fix the leak at hand. If you do go ahead and fix it you should take your time, I spent a good 4 days working on it for about 2-3 hour intervals and since I had to locate some parts which turned weren't available so I had to use the old ones. Good luck on the fix!

 

[winston1]

alot of the tractors we brought in that were 4wd ie, the 1500D's had the front axles grease packed. I cleaned them and replaced any needed parts (mostly seals etc..), but in retrospect, having the front end packed with a high quality synthetic or moly grease could lubricate just as well.

I respectfully disagree that grease is as good a lubricant in these 4 wheel drive trains. Grease will tend to permanently locate in the cavities and you will lose lubrication in places. You will notice on finish mowers they recommend lubricating the spindles every 8 hours or so depending on manufacturer. Reason is to move that grease on through. I don't think you will find any manufacturer of front wheel drives recommending grease as a lubricant. This is "my opinion".

 

[Kays Supply]

On almost everyone I worked on the surface the seal mated to was worn. It is steel/cast. A new seal wasn't able to fix it without some work to that surface. It should be smooth and not have a groove where the seal mates. There is a repair part for seals to slide over the old surface. Has anyone found one for this seal? I cleaned the groove with solvent and wire brushed it. Then I took JB weld and built up the groove and then sanded it back down to smooth. As far as I know they are all still working. The grey market tractors were all used in volcanic soil that wore the surface bad. Yours is a US model. If the soil it was exposed to wasn't as abrasive as the volcanic, you might get by with just the seal.

 

[winston1]

On almost everyone I worked on the surface the seal mated to was worn. It is steel/cast. A new seal wasn't able to fix it without some work to that surface. It should be smooth and not have a groove where the seal mates. There is a repair part for seals to slide over the old surface. Has anyone found one for this seal? I cleaned the groove with solvent and wire brushed it. Then I took JB weld and built up the groove and then sanded it back down to smooth. As far as I know they are all still working. The grey market tractors were all used in volcanic soil that wore the surface bad. Yours is a US model. If the soil it was exposed to wasn't as abrasive as the volcanic, you might get by with just the seal.

I have changed both knuckle seals on my 2002d without a speedi sleeve and both have been holding over year. Wear area wasn't in bad shape. I don't know what seal you are talking about but there are many speedi sleeves available. For instance, I believe the 99452 speedi sleeve will work with a 115x140x15 seal used on a 1500. Word of caution, speedi sleeves are expensive.

 

[Kays Supply]

That is probably what I was thinking of. It would be a once in a lifetime fix though.

 

[YanmarFever]

alot of the tractors we brought in that were 4wd ie, the 1500D's had the front axles grease packed. I cleaned them and replaced any needed parts (mostly seals etc..), but in retrospect, having the front end packed with a high quality synthetic or moly grease could lubricate just as well.

The gear oil keeps the worn metal suspended ( floating) in the front end, or it drops to the bottom until its drained.

Grease keeps the worn metal stuck to the gears which causes them to wear faster. Or if a gear tooth breaks, chances are the grease will make sure it gets stuck and break others, (not good)

Synthetic is good grease, but not for the front end of a Yanmar

 

[jerrybob]

There are several threads out there from guys who used the stop leak. It worked for me. The Lucas Stop leak is about the same thickness of the 90 wt gear oil I use. I used about 4or5 oz. of the stuff......have ran the tractor pretty hard several times......leak problem went away. Check out the other threads......I am not the only person to have had success with this fix. I only used this product after reading from others on this forum. Good luck.

 

[BC Dave]

great discussion and opinions; thanks!

I'll have to take a close look at the seal area and pinpoint the leak; the tractor's trailer needed redecking; so the tractor didnt get to its destination last weekend (grrrrr!) ... this weekend hopefully ...

intresting; just thinking out loud here ...

... it would seem to make sense to lightly pack the seals with grease before installing and .... greasing worn seals might stop them from leaking for a while; untill the grease gets washed away by the oil ... right? Spec ft diff oil is reg 90 wt I beleive so what grease would not get washed away by that oil???

Im warming to the idea of cleaning the seal are from the outside; then adding the stop leak when I know the front diff is going to get a good workout; then greasing at the end of the day ....

 

[Kays Supply]

You can't get grease anywhere near where it seals from the outside. It has a triple lip seal that is designed to keep dirt from getting to the sealing surface. That seal failing is what usually lets the inner seal get worn. If you take it down to grease it, you might as well fix it. The seals aren't that expensive.

 

[Car Doc]

Seals all have a sharp edge (or two) where they bear down on the boss they are sealing.

I can usually tell if a seal is really bad or re-usable by taking a close look at those edges with a magnifying glass. Once they flatten out that is your indication they are bad.

I have seen seals so bad where the seal is worn thru clear to the spring and that can cause a lot of excess wear on the sealing surface on the boss. fwtw

I have cleaned seals that had grass or grit packed in them that still had sharp edges and passed the glass inspection on the other surfaces and got away with it. ymmv

 

[Trkrd]

I tried the stop-leak fix in my 240D and it slowed the leak but didn't stop it. Ordered the seals from Hoye and changed them out. Only took abut an hour and an extremely easy repair. Been a year now and no more issues.

 

[Kays Supply]

One word of advise when changing them. Keep your hands clear when you have loosened all the bolts and it hasn't dropped down. I learned the hard way not to get a hand under the knuckle when tapping it with a hammer. A trip to the emergency room to have a fingernail sewn back on.